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Gym Mixes Vodka With Fitness

By Kayleen Schaefer August 22, 2010 9:20 pmAugust 22, 2010 9:20 pm

“Sweat and alcohol are both great social lubricants,” said David Barton, founder of the David Barton Gym. So in a move that might seem silly or inevitable, depending on your point of view, he has combined them.

The gym chain became a watering hole at its locations in Chicago, Miami and New York when it started hosting cocktail hours after its intense boot camp training classes.

They are sponsored by the Swedish vodka brand Svedka throughout August and are meant to tie in with the brand’s “RU Bot Or Not?” ad campaign that features a female robot with proportions Barbie would envy.

“I want people to find the gym not just a place to work out, but a good hang as well,” Mr. Barton said.

After the trainer-led group exercise classes, customers can take off their sweaty socks and trade their usual smoothies with scoops of protein powder for cocktails made with clementine-flavored vodka, orange juice, sour mix and fresh mint.

“It’s a little weird to serve bourbon or Scotch,” Mr. Barton said of why he chose vodka. “Tequila might seem out of control. Vodka seems like the right complement to the gym.”

Any liquor, however, is an impediment to achieving the Barton gym’s mantra to “look better naked.” A shot has around 100 calories, which takes about a mile of running to burn off.

Mr. Barton said he doesn’t mind that it seems hypocritical to tempt his members with a drink that’s not as healthy as water, the alcohol equivalent of the candy bowls scattered around the set of “The Biggest Loser.”

“It’s better to work out and drink than to not work out and drink,” he said. “Our members have intense lives, and some people party and that’s all the more need to work out. I’m not pushing alcohol, but I’m not a prohibitionist.”

Mr. Barton himself, however, follows a strict diet and conceded, “I’m not a big drinker.”

Jane Barratt, president of Young & Rubicam New York, who said that she had one of the best drinks of her life after she finished the New York City Marathon, commented of the drinks events, “You can blame your wobbly legs on the cardio and not the alcohol.”

Mr. Barton said that despite the Svedka campaign’s futuristic theme, the classes aren’t different from the gym’s usual offerings, other than that you’ll be doing bicep curls to the Jackson 5’s “Dancing Machine,” which popularized the robot dance style.